Three-dimensional treatment of nonequilibrium dynamics and higher order elasticity

Abstract

This letter presents a three-dimensional model to describe the complex behavior of nonlinear mesoscopic elastic materials such as rocks and concrete. Assuming isotropy and geometric contraction of principal stress axes under dynamic loading, the expression of elastic wave velocity is derived, based on the second-order elastic constants (λ,μ), third-order elastic constants (l, m, n), and a parameter α of nonclassical nonlinear elasticity resulting from conditioning. We demonstrate that both softening and recovering of the elastic properties under dynamic loading is an isotropic effect related to the strain tensor. The measurement of the conditioning is achieved using three polarized waves. The model allows the evaluation of the third-order elastic constants uncoupled from conditioning and viscoelastic effects. The values obtained are similar to those reported in the literature using quasi-static loading.